The Worst That Could Happen
by Ilive4books
Summary: Frank and Alice Longbottom are one of the most lovable, sweet and tragic couples in Harry Potter. Have you ever wondered what happened on their first date? Now is your chance to find out...


Looking around the square, Frank could see that it was empty. He gulped down some air, then loosened his collar slightly. He smoothed down his posh jeans, and walked over to a nearby house. It was huge; big and imposing, and the black windows seemed to glare down at him like blank, angry eyes. Swallowing, he cautiously opened the huge black gate, and approached the front door. Closing his eyes, he imagined how happy he would be if this worked out, and that was all he needed to stretch out his hand in front of him and grab the large eagle doorknocker in front of him. He smoothed down his hair and checked in the nearest window that he didn't have toothpaste smeared across his face, or some other such problem. No, he was fine. He took a deep breath and plastered what he thought to be his most charming smile across his face.

Frank could hear slow, thudding footsteps approaching the other side of the door he was in front of. His smile faded a little, and he braced himself for trying to talk to her parents. Suddenly, the door opened, and his cheesy smile froze

"'Ello. Who you?" A small girl no older than six stood in front of him shyly, flashing a small, toothy grin.

"Um," He hadn't prepared himself for siblings, let alone younger siblings. Crouching down to her height, he said gently,

"Hello. My name is Frank, and I was looking for your sister, Alice."

The girls chubby face turned confused, then brightened again as she said,

"But my sissy is called Ethel. I'll call my big sissy for you." She opened her mouth to scream for her sister at a volume that was likely to burst Frank's eardrums. He gently covered her mouth with his hand,

"No! I'll be fine, but is there anyone called Alice in there with you?" He peered around her hopefully into the large, empty hallway. Nothing there. Poor girl, living in a big house like that. Frank sighed, he could see that he was going to get nowhere if Alice really wasn't there. Admitting defeat, he said:

"Never mind. Have a nice evening." Stood up, he brushed his trousers down and turned around.

"'K. Bye, bye Fwank." Said the bouncy, cheerful voice of an innocent six-year-old. The door shut.

Walking out of the square, he prepared for the long, depressing walk back to his house, a good three miles away. Then a soft, happy laugh came from behind him. It was the laugh that went with a smile that could melt his heart and make him do anything for the person who owned it. Alice! Swivelling around, he could see that she was right there in front of him, and she was looking totally gorgeous to boot. Her long, slim body was clothed in a knee-length delicate blue dress that clung to her in all the right places and set off her sapphire eyes. It was simple but sweet and slinky, with an off-the-shoulder neckline that accentuated her slender neck. His mouth literally dropped open. Then he realised that he was probably drooling, so he quickly shut it again. '_Say something intelligent, say something intelligent_!'

"Um, so… Hi!" '_Well done, that obviously reeally impressed her.' _said Inner-Frank.

"Hi!" Alice said nervously, she was obviously shy about this too. An adorable red blushing was slowly staining her cheeks.

Frank stared at her happy face for a minute, then realised that he should probably say something.

"So, uh, did you see me back there?" he came up with, hoping desperately that the answer was no.

"Oh yes, I saw everything. You were really sweet." She added.

"Wait - really?"

"Yes, very. You're very good with children, Agatha is very lonely, and only speaks to people she likes."

"She seemed very glad to have someone to talk too. Do you know her well?" They were walking now, the place they were eating at was only a few minutes away. Frank wished desperately that he had passed his Apparation exam by now – it would be so much easier. His mother was always going on about how hopeless he was, when all he really tried to do was please her.

"Yes, I used to baby sit her. Her mother is a teacher at Hogwarts, Professor Vector. She teaches Arithmancy. Where are we going, by the way?"

Frank tapped the side of his nose with his finger, "You'll see!" Alice giggled. She found him so cute when he did things like that. She had had a crush on Frank Longbottom since third year and had dreamt many times over of her first date with him. She had spent a full four hours preparing, and she wasn't sure if he liked it or not, he hadn't said anything. '_Oh well,' _she thought, '_he probably hasn't had much experience. That makes him so much cute!' _Inner-Alice squealed with excitement.

They walked on into the village.

Frank leaned forwards, blushing, and said, "You look great tonight, by the way. I mean, you always look great and everything but you look even better tonight. Not that I'm saying you don't look pretty when you don't wear make up, but-"

"Frank, I get the idea!" Alice interrupted him with a laugh. Frank smiled back gratefully, he was prone to babbling unstoppably. She smiled shyly at him, and her cheeks started to glow as she saw Frank looking at her like she was his whole world. Realising that she had seen him, Frank blushed just as much, or more, as she was. With Alice, everything was so much easier. He was completely at ease around her, and he knew that he would willingly lay down his life and his sanity if it would save her. Embarrassed that she was still looking at him, he quickly turned his attention to the restaurant they were in. It was nice, if a little small. The walls were cream and the carpet was red, but with Alice sitting opposite him, that was all he could seem to register about the place.

"Sooo, have you got all your work done for September?" he asked, running his hand through his hair like he had seen James Potter do on numerous occasions; he was trying to appear nonchalant and casual. After he realised what he had said,

Inner-Frank cursed. '_Of all the things you could have talked about, you chose homework. Intelligent, boy, think intelligently!' _Frank winced, his annoying inner voice had taken on the tone of his ambitious mother, who had never bothered to spare his feelings when his school report came.

"Yeah, pretty much. That Potions essay killed a whole day, though! I swear Slughorn is just being mean. Was it just me, or did he set Lily Evans no homework at all on our last day?"

"Really! Well, I suppose she did do amazingly well on that Essence of Dittany thing." Frank, who had himself completely fluffed that particular assignment up, said this rather enviously and in awe of the talented Potions prodigy.. '_Mum would much rather have her as a daughter than you as a son. She will never be proud of you.' _Inner-Frank said savagely. "She really is a very talented witch. She is going to do very-"

"Yeah. Whatever." Alice said, rather dismissively. "But I find that Astronomy is more helpful in the _real_ world." As she said this, she looked at the ceiling and looked frustrated as she turned her nose up at Frank. Puzzled, he tried to work out what was happening during several minutes of extremely awkward silence.

Suddenly, it hit him. Alice was jealous! This made him glow inside, she was actually jealous of him talking about another girl with admiration. That must mean… Frank's mind slowly processed it… that she liked him. His brain arrived at the conclusion triumphantly.

"Alice, I'm sorry if I offended you. I just meant that I like Lily as a friend, nothing more." A pause. "I think… what I'm trying to say, is that I really like you." He finished lamely.

She peeked up at him from behind her long black lashes. "Well that's good. 'Cos I really like you too."

They stared at each other, with now an inkling of the fact that they had a special, undying love that just hadn't surfaced fully yet... Which made it the perfect moment for Alice to stop gazing dreamily at Frank's face, grin mischievously and reach into her handbag below the table. After a few moments of rummaging and mumbling incoherent phrases such as: '…sure it was here… just in this pocket… under the purse…' and finally:

"Tada! Here it is!"

From under the table she brought out a magical Wizarding camera, cleverly disguised as a boring Muggle one. Frank stared at it like it was an alien, while Alice just laughed and pulled him closer, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

"Say 'Cheese'!"

"So I guess this is goodbye then?" They were standing outside the restaurant.

"Yeah, I guess. Listen, Frank, I had a really great time. Could we do it again soon?" Alice looked up at him shyly.

"I'd like that." Frank leaned forwards, as if to kiss her, but changed his mind at the last minute.

"Bye Alice." Then an awkward hug.

Frank took one last look at his love, then, still gazing at her face, he stepped into the strange Muggle road that had been built in the absence of Apparation. Straight into the path of a blue Toyota speeding down it.

The fog cleared, and Frank could see again, if blurrily. Then the pain hit him. It was everywhere; but the agony focused in his arm, shoulder, head and face. The blur shifted, and changed into the face of a beautiful young girl. The angel's face broke into a relieved smile.

"Hey. How you feeling?" A soft, gentle voice caressed the air.

"Like I was dragged to hell and back while being stabbed in the face with a pitchfork." Groaned Frank. The pain was subsiding slightly, but not much. The angel's voice giggled.

"Are you in pain?" Alice asked.

"Not much," Frank lied. "I can bear it."

She smiled again. "Aren't we the masochistic today?" But then she looked worried. "Seriously though. How are you? It was so horrible. I thought you were, you were…" the voice broke down into sobs, but bravely Alice held them back.

"Alice. Look at my face. I'm fine." Frank tried to reassure her. "Now what exactly have I done?"

She smiled weakly. "You have a broken arm, shattered collarbone, bruised everywhere and your skull is cracked in several places. Oh, and you have a broken nose. You smashed your face on the ground when you landed." She winced; playing the scene out in her head as she said it.

"Wow."

"Yeah." Her beautiful face was worn out and had bags, she had obviously stayed up all night by his bed.

"Alice, I think you should go home." Her face crumpled slightly. "No! It's not that I don't want you here, but you need sleep. Get some rest."

She smiled at him gratefully. She stood up, then bent down to his level by the bed.

"Goodbye Frank." Her lips grazed his gently and slowly. Then she slipped something under the bedclothes by his sling. It was a photo.

"Hide it," she whispered in his ear. "It's a Muggle hospital."

As his angel walked out the door, Frank, still spinning in his head from the kiss, descended back into the fog gratefully.

Neville looked at the dusty old Wizarding photo. It was of his parents, but they weren't the Mum and Dad that he knew. They weren't stripped of life and meaning in this picture. They were happily gazing into each others eyes and laughing into the camera.

"Neville! Get down here this instant! Trevor is in the sugar pot, would you mind telling me how he got there, hmm?" A loud, pompous voice from several floors below.

Neville ignored her; he was too wrapped up in his parents' photo. He knelt there, on the dusty attic floor, for several minutes. They were so full of life, they had a bright, shining future ahead of them that had never happened. It was taken from them. In that moment, Neville's eyes shined with revenge and his plump face took on that of a determined, strong expression. The monster that did this was going to die. And he would fight to his death if he had to, and _nothing_ would stand in his way.

"NEVILLE!" And then, muttered under the breath, "Will he ever live up to his father? I doubt it. Such a great wizard…"

The spell was broken for Neville; the moment was ruined. The anger and desperation he had felt for his parents was all gone, all he was left with was a crushing sadness.

"Coming, Grandmother." mumbled Neville, shutting the box where he had found the photo.

A single tear ran silently down Neville's desolate face and onto his mother's joyful one as he stowed the treasure in his pocket.


End file.
